


finding the right word

by bluenorth



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Fuckbuddies, Injury, M/M, argument, but only sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluenorth/pseuds/bluenorth
Summary: “But Bratter was in there with me,” Nico protests, because this time he wasn’t even the first one to take a run at the other guy, Jesper started it.“That’s different,” Taylor says, voice low.“How? There’s literally no difference! He’s a rookie, just like me.”“The difference is that Bratter doesn’t have an ill-advised crush on me,” Taylor says sharply, eyes fixed on the road in front of them.





	finding the right word

**Author's Note:**

> Basically inspired by [Nico & Hallsy standing up for Palms](https://youtu.be/HoWP8EovoDE) and [Nico & Bratter standing up for Hallsy](https://youtu.be/v7Synnsi2yU) (it's set right after the game against the Kings in which Hallsy got injured). Fueled purely by my need to fill this tag because apparently this is now one of my OTPs \\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Lots of love to my brilliant beta, Lor, and to Maria for holding my hand as alway, and thank you Ellie for helping with the title!

Nico waits for Taylor after the game — a good win, an important one — because he’s worried. The hit Taylor took to his knee looked bad, and Palms was out for a third of the season when the same thing happened to him. Granted, Taylor stayed on the ice for a few shifts after the hit, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be alright.

Nico had felt out of step without Taylor on his wing in the third.

When Taylor comes into the dressing room, already showered and changed, he has a big ice pack taped to his knee. He’s walking carefully and Nico wishes he had punched someone for this when he had the chance. He did stick up for Taylor, but maybe he should have done more.

It takes Taylor a moment to notice Nico and he doesn’t look particularly happy about his presence. Nico tries not to take it personally; he does that frequently where Taylor is concerned.

“What are you still doing here, Nico?” Taylor asks. He goes to his stall and retrieves his phone  from the top shelf. Taylor looks at it for a long moment, his screen undoubtedly blowing up with notifications. He switches it off and pockets it without replying to anything.

“Someone will have to drive you home. How’s your knee?” Nico asks and gets up from his own stall, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He’s glad he was the first to offer himself up to stick around, even though he had gotten some curious looks for it. At least he didn’t have to convince one of the vets that he was best suited for the job.

“You are not driving my car,” Taylor replies, predictably, and doesn’t give an answer to Nico’s actual question, which isn’t surprising either.

“Oh, so they cleared you to drive?” Nico asks with a pointed look at Taylor’s right leg. He’s not putting any weight on it standing up, so it must hurt more than he’s letting on.

Taylor shoots him a dark look. “I’m gonna take an Uber,” he says.

“You hate Uber,” Nico counters. He’s pretty sure Taylor was going to drive, even though he knows he shouldn’t. Taylor does a lot of things against his better judgment, Nico in particular being one of them.

It seems as though Taylor is going to fight Nico for a moment. That fight leaves him when he shifts and puts some weight back on his knee. His face only gives away that he’s in pain for a split second, which is long enough for Nico to see.

“Sure you don’t want me to drive you?” Nico asks.

“If you hurt my car I’m gonna ask for a new liney,” Taylor says. He probably doesn’t mean it. With Taylor, it’s always hard to tell.

 

#

 

They drive in silence for a while. Nico pays more attention to the road than he normally would, because he is not interested in proving Taylor right and he’s never driven a car this big before. Once they get out of the busier city traffic, he relaxes a bit, enough to start a conversation.

“So, your knee,” he prompts. He tries to sound gentle, but he can see Taylor flinch in the corner of his eye.

“They don’t know yet. Getting scans tomorrow, so.” Taylor shrugs and Nico knows better than to say something like ‘I’m sure it’ll be okay,’ so he says nothing and they fall back into silence.

Nico doesn’t like Taylor’s side of the silence. It doesn’t feel like it’s just because of the injury, and after a few long beats of it, Nico reaches forward to turn on the radio. Taylor stops him with a hand wrapped around his wrist and doesn’t let go until Nico pulls his arm back to rest his hand on the steering wheel again.

“What?” he asks, irritated.

“I don’t want you to get all fighty because of me,” Taylor says.

Nico frowns. “Why not? That guy deserved it,” he says. He’s still angry, especially since he still doesn’t know if Taylor is going to be okay.

“I don’t care. Don’t do it again.” Taylor’s voice is hard as he says it, a strange contrast to how it usually sounds — calm and friendly. Nico usually likes listening to Taylor when he talks, wishes he could use his words like that.

“I did it when Palms got injured, too.” Nico never would have expected Taylor to be upset over this. They’re a team, they’re linemates, it’s what you do.

“I didn’t like it much then, either,” Taylor replies. Nico remembers Taylor coming in fast, drawing all of their opponents towards him after Nico started the whole thing. At the time he figured Taylor had also been upset with the hit on Palms, but maybe there was more to it than that.

“But Bratter was in there with me,” Nico protests, because this time he wasn’t even the first one to take a run at the other guy, Jesper started it.

“That’s different,” Taylor says, voice low.

“How? There’s literally no difference! He’s a rookie, just like me.” Nico really doesn’t understand what Taylor’s problem is and he’s slowly losing his patience with this. He probably should have let Taylor drive, alone with his mood, and let him make his injury worse.

“The difference is that Bratter doesn’t have an ill-advised crush on me,” Taylor says sharply, eyes fixed on the road in front of them.

Nico’s grip on the steering wheel is hard now, because he can’t believe it’s about this, again. It’s so frustrating, having the same stupid discussion on what must be a weekly basis.

They’re nearly at Taylor’s building, so Nico bites his lip and keeps driving, punches in the code for the underground parking when they get there, and finds a spot near the elevator.

The silence between them feels so charged. Taylor still isn’t looking at Nico and when he reaches for the door handle without saying anything more, that’s what sets Nico off.

“Honestly, Taylor, fuck you,” he says and it gives him great satisfaction to see the surprise on Taylor’s face, because he may have heard Nico swear on the ice, it’s just never been directed at him.

“I didn’t do it because of my _crush_ , okay, that’s so stupid! You’re my teammate and  I defend my teammates, okay? I’d do it for any of the guys, so get off your fucking high horse or whatever, ‘cause you’re being a dick.”

He doesn’t wait for Taylor to say anything. He gets out of the car, closes the door harder than strictly necessary, and walks to the elevator. Taylor follows him, more slowly. He looks mad, but he doesn’t say anything and Nico thinks maybe that’s for the best.

 

#

 

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Nico says when they’re inside Taylor’s apartment. He’d call a car to get home, if it wasn’t this late and kind of far. He also remembers that someone will have to drive Taylor to the rink in the morning and that ranks much lower on his list of reasons for staying.

“Nico—” Taylor says with a sigh as he follows Nico into the living room. “You’re not sleeping on the couch, don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not stupid!” Nico snaps. He’s had enough of Taylor’s condescension.

“Jesus, Nics, I know that.” Taylor runs a hand over his face, scratching at his beard that Nico finds far too attractive, much like everything about Taylor, from his stupid lips to the way he always wears these tight leggings around the rink, to his moods and the way he plays the game. It’s infuriating, especially now.

“Great! As I said, I’m sleeping on the—”

“I don’t want you to get injured,” Taylor says cutting him off. “That’s why I don’t want you to fight. I just— You’re my rookie, I’m supposed to protect _you_. So would you please stop making it so goddamn hard?”

“I’m not not going to get hurt,” Nico protests, but it comes out as a pout. It’s not a promise he can actually make since he’s not going to stop sticking up for his teammates, but it’s not like he’s made of glass, he won’t break because of some harmless shoving on the ice.

“You don’t know that, and it’s your rookie season. You don’t want to ruin that with an injury, trust me.”

“Jesper’s a rookie, too,” Nico says without any heat left behind it, his anger evaporating slowly.

“God, Nico.” Taylor takes a step towards him then, leaning in a bit. “That’s different,” he says again, but quieter, more intimate than in the car. Almost like an admission of sorts. It makes warmth spread through Nico’s chest and stomach, something that happens more often around Taylor these days, at least when Taylor’s not busy pushing him away.

Nico leans in, running with it because he has nothing to lose. “Different, huh?” he says, and only waits a moment before he kisses Taylor. He tangles their fingers together where they’re caught between their bodies and revels in the way Taylor deepens the kiss. Apart from going first overall and playing in the league, kissing Taylor Hall is definitely the best thing that has happened to him this year, followed immediately by sleeping with Taylor Hall.

And that’s an idea, so he starts walking Taylor backwards into the direction of the bedroom, slow enough that Taylor’s knee won’t be bothered. Nico’s not inclined to stop kissing Taylor on the way there, and Taylor chuckles.

“Not sleeping on the couch, then?” he asks without really pulling away, and Nico bites into his lower lip. He learned quickly that Taylor likes it when he uses his teeth.

Taylor sits down on the bed and Nico crawls into his lap, knees on either side of Taylor’s thighs.

“I seem to remember you scoring a few goals tonight,” Nico says, as he layers kisses to the side of Taylor’s neck and grinds against him slowly, until he can feel Taylor’s dick through the fabric of his sweats.

“Seems like I should be getting rewarded for it,” Taylor says, one hand in Nico’s hair, the other sliding underneath Nico’s shirt. He draws Nico closer for a deep, hard kiss that leaves Nico’s lips tingling.

Nico grins and gets off Taylor’s lap, careful not to jostle his injured knee. “Well, considering you were also first star,” he says, and slides down between Taylor’s legs.

 

#

 

Nico’s never sure if he’s supposed to leave or stay, after. Sometimes Taylor gets up to shower and Nico leaves. Sometimes he pulls Nico close and they fall asleep like that, so when Taylor walks into the bathroom after he’s gotten Nico off, Nico doesn’t know what to do.

They’ve already established that he’s staying and while he doesn’t think Taylor expects him to actually sleep on the couch, it’s still weird to just lie there and wait.

Taylor comes back after a few minutes though, the ice pack removed from his knee. The skin is already looking colorful and it seems slightly swollen; Nico has seen much worse, so perhaps Taylor will be alright.

“Here,” Taylor says. He hands Nico a wet towel and gets back into bed. Nico wipes off the mess on his stomach quickly and drops the towel to the floor.

When he turns back around, he finds Taylor looking at him with a hint of a smile on his face. Taylor reaches out the same moment Nico moves towards him and it’s so easy to settle against Taylor’s chest and kiss him, soft and slow.

He wishes it could always be this easy. Nico hasn’t really been in love before so he can’t be sure, but he thinks this is what it’s supposed to feel like. He’s aware that Taylor thinks they shouldn’t be doing this. Still, Taylor has never said no and despite all the reasons it’s a bad idea, Nico wants it.

He wants it so much.

It’s possible Taylor can read minds. “Hey,” he mumbles against Nico’s lips, “I’m sorry for being a dick. I was upset.” He’s drawing small circles with his thumb, right in that spot behind Nico’s ears that makes his skin tingle every time.

Nico pulls back. “I hate when you call it a crush,” he says, quietly. While all of this may have started out as a crush, it feels like a lot more now and it hurts when Taylor makes it sound like a trivial thing.

“I can stop doing that. I don’t know what else to call it, though.” Taylor seems to be thinking about it, eyes fixed to a spot somewhere behind Nico.

Nico is a little afraid of what he might say. Instead of waiting for Taylor’s assessment of what they are, or aren’t, Nico presses his lips to Taylor’s; he keeps them there until the tightness in his chest dissipates.

“Maybe there isn’t a good word for it,” Nico says, and Taylor hums quietly.

“We’ll come up with one eventually,” he replies.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you feel like yelling about these two, come find me on [tumblr](https://mcdraii.tumblr.com/) <3


End file.
